The Proposal of an Editor and her Assistant
by jakobamy
Summary: Katniss Everdeen never thought she would be here, she had vowed that this would never happen but here she was with a man who claimed to know everything about her and more. How could he read her like this? But again he was a great assistant. A hunger games and the proposal crossover. *Discountinued
1. Canadian Prologue

**The Hunger Games characters do not belong to me. All right goes to Suzanne Collins.**

 **The story of "The Proposal" belongs to Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures**

 ** _Eleven years earlier_**

It started out has a fine and beautiful day, towards the end of the day it was raining dogs and cats. She had gone hunting with her Dad the morning, but somehow all the creatures decided to stay in that day. She had just finished a cello recital and her family had taken her out to her favourite restaurant. It was called the Hob, a semi-high class restaurant that offered McDonalds imitation burgers to haute couture delicacies. She had ordered her favourite: lamb stew with dried plums, tasty cheese buns and a Shirley Temple. Her family and friends would always tease her because no matter what was on the menu or if the chef had a special he wanted people to taste, she always order the same thing. It began has a pleasant evening with fun and chuckle but the weather took a turn for the worse by the time dessert arrived. The Everdeen's opted to have their dessert wrapped up so they could enjoy it when they got home in front of their fireplace. Going out of the restaurant he decided to make a dash to their car and the loser had to make everyone hot cocoa. Primrose or Prim as she liked to be called got to the car first followed by her parents with Katniss bringing up the rear.

"No fair" she cried out» Mom and Prim are tracks stars"

"Yes" replied her father "But we're stealthier."

Laughing they went it the car and buckled up. They exited the parking lot while Mr. Everdeen turned on the radio. Katniss and Nigel favourite song was playing not only did she inherited her looks but she also inherited his voice and musical ability and love of nature.

'"Open your eyes,

Look up to the skies and see,

I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy,

Because I'm easy come, easy go,

Little high, little low,

Anyway the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me.'"

It was their song "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, it had great harmony and various degrees of musical styling which they often fought her sister and mom were somewhat tone deaf but hummed along with the family.

As they came across the intersection they slowed to a stop, change the song and exited the intersection. Suddenly out of nowhere a truck drove straight through them hitting the car on the right side, just where her sister was seated. On impact her father slammed on the brakes but with the rain they started hydroplaning. He hit a massive oak tree head on killing him on impact. And just like that in the space of thirteen seconds Katniss Everdeen's life was changed, forever.

...

She woke up in the hospital with a start.

"I'm late" she thought "school's starting soon. I got to wake up Prim. Did mom had a night shift or is she home now? Why didn't she wake me up? What is going on?"

She started opening her eyes when she suddenly heard a very steady beeping noise. She froze and wondered if her mom changed her alarm clock?

Opening her eyes she saw white sterile walls. Turning her head, she saw a whole bunch of machines and wires. Lifting her hand she saw some of them going through and around her. Seeing all those wires, she started panicking and the beeping noise increased. An instant later, a young nurse with locks of red hair came in thru the door. She started soothing her but all Katniss could think was she was trying to hurt her. Without a choice the nurse induce to sleep.

...

For a couple hours she drifted in and out of her slumber. Each time she resurfaced she got a clearer picture of where she was. She finally realised after a while that she was in a hospital room. On one side of the bed there were flowers and cards and teddy bears on the other side there was machines beeping and IV's hanging.

...

The fifth time she woke up, her best friend Gale was staring down at her. Their families had been friends ever since the Everdeen's had moved Twelve Trees thirteen years ago. He was a loyal and trusted friend, but also her hunting partner; those were hard to find. Gale looked just like her, jet black hair and steel cut grey eyes. When they were younger they used to tell people they were twins. And even now, in their teenage years, they were almost mirrors of each other.

"Hey Catnip, how are you feeling?"

"Thirsty"

"Here, have some water"

"Where are Mom and Dad?"

"Katniss..."

"Gale"

She hated that voice. The one he used whenever something bad happened or when he would put some animal out of their misery when they hunted.

No she thought it can't be. There just in the other room and they will come and see me soon. After I'm released Dad and I will go hunting, we will bring back the biggest game possible and Mum and Prim will cook it and we'll have a feast.

"They're gone. Your dad passed away on the spot your mom was barely conscious when she was brought in, but went into a coma when she learned your father was dead."

"How long have I been here?"

"Eleven days, you just started waking up today. They called us in since my family is next of kin."

That's what she thought too. Dad was an only child and his parents passed away a couple months after my parents wedding. My Mum had an older brother and sister but they had disowned her for marrying someone beneath her social status. Her parents own a various pharmacies around the province and were making the big bucks. They expected her to marry someone like the Cranes who were big in the Canadian entertainment industry. But instead she followed her heart and the voice of a wonderful man and left the province to marry him.

"What about Prim?" she asked.

"Prim's..." Taking a breath he continued "She succumbed to her injuries a few hours after arriving at the hospital. They could not get her stabilize. She needed much more than what the hospital here could give her.

She turned away, even though she knew she shouldn't blame him, Gale the news bearer became Gale the one who played a part in their deaths.

"Catnip" he whispered.

"Go away Gale. I... I just need time to process all this."

"OK"

And with that said he left.

After Gale left she pondered over her predicament. She was all alone she realized with no one else in the world. Everyone that she was sure she loved was gone.

* * *

Over the course of the weeks she learned more and more about her family's death and somehow the guy who ran them down was drunk and came out without a scratch. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison for drunk driving, driving without a valid permit and manslaughter. She also underwent serious therapy, both for physical and for her mental state. She had suffered from numerous breaks: her left leg had a clean break, she had five bruised ribs and her pointer and middle finger was broken. She also had some nerve damage. At best she would have about 80 to 90% mobility in those two fingers. When she heard that she cursed the nurses, the doctors, the driver and God.

Her psychiatrist was a tall and thin man with tiny glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. His name was Arnold Aurelius. He was a middle aged and had various degrees all hanging on the wall behind his desk. She was required to attend two sessions with him each week, but all she did was stare at the wall and all he did was make various robotic-like comments such as " I think it will be better next time won't it" or " You can fed yourself now, how does that feel?" But all Katniss did was look at him and scowl. She did not want to talk about her 'feelings' nor did her think he understood the pain she was in nor how does it feel to slowly but at the same time lose all the members of your family.

* * *

Once she was stable, she was let out for her family's funeral organised by the Hawthorne's. It was small with about twenty people in attendance and they were mostly coworkers and a few neighbours. The pastor talked about the kindness of Primrose, the healing hands of her mother and Nigel's willingness to always help someone. He said that this family was a diligent, willing and hardworking folks who loved vehemently. Thayer always had you're back.

Katniss listened intently to the service but refused to shed any tears. She had decided a while ago that it was for the weak so was love. Her mother barely lasted a month after she knew of her husband's death beefier sinking into a deep depression that eventually leads to her death. No, she was not going to be like her mother she was stronger than that.

After the funeral, a small luncheon, organized by a ladies group was served. The visitors lingered a while and talk among themselves at how brave Katniss was, how strong she was, how her family was good, how Primrose had a promising career has a doctor . Soon after the conversation turned to how would Katniss live? Who would she live with and what were her options? Katniss didn't voice it but she had been planning for a while now. She would live with the Hawthorne's, get her GED, sell the family house and with that money move elsewhere to start a brand new life. She played along and said yes, she would be staying at the Hawthorne's, yes she would finish school, yes she stilled planned on going to college and pursue a music/education degree.

As the day was ending, people started filling out and each person said the same thing «if you ever need something, just call me."! She smiled politely but knew she would never do that. Once everyone left, she set the wheels in motion and over the course of few weeks her plan was set.

She continued her physical therapy and started seeing her therapist. Seeing that she made the effort to get better, he soon cut her sessions from twice a week to once then finally to every other week. With more time on her hand she plowed through the online classes and finished the rest of her grade eleven in record time. She then proceeded to finish her grade Twelve in little less than six months. She also kept her promise and packed away her former childhood home and only kept a few personal belongings such has her father's hunting jacket and bow, her mother's plant and health book and her sister's favourite stuffed animal which she had named Buttercup. Never once had she she'd a year while going through her family stuffed. For herself she personally kept a few clothes and most her and her family's favorite books.

...

It took longer than expected but eleven months after her family's funeral, she set out into the world and the tender age of seventeen. She had gotten emancipated along the way and was free so spread her wings. When she told Hazelle about her plan to leave, the whole family begged her to stay. Gale even offered to marry her.

« You know you don't have to leave. This is as much my home as it is yours. Katniss if you're so willing I would like to marry you. "

« What?" she sputtered "why would you want to do that? »?

« Because I think we would be good together and good hunting partners are hard to find. And ever since your family arrived here, I've fallen in love with you. »

She was touched that he wanted to marry her, but in all honesty she didn't want to be married to anyone even someone has pleasant, good-looking and hardworking has Gale Hawthorne.

"I'm sorry" she said "but Gale I love you but as a brother. I love all your family the same, even annoying Vick. I just can't fathom the idea of marrying you. »

Gale looked devastated, but no amount of convincing neither pleading nor cajoling would persuade that stubborn mind of hers. So on sunny winter day at the end of January, Katniss Everdeen hopped on a plane toward New York City with as a new person with different dreams. She had already bought a two-bedroom condo over-looking Central Park, her stuff and been sent away two weeks previously and would be there by the time she arrived. She waved good-by to her surrogate family promising to call, knowing in her heart that she would never. Once installed in New York, she got herself a reminder of who she was and of the people she loved the most: a yellow evening primrose, a blue nigella flower and a white lily.

 **Thank you taking the time to read. I am new to fanfic having never written one myself. This is my first multi-chapter fic so your comments are appreciate. Review and Follow!**


	2. New York Discovery

**Chapter Two**

 **A New York Discovery**

 **All characters belong to Suzanne Collins and Walt Disney Studios**

She did not like to be late; she liked to be on time. She liked things just the way they were with not too much change. She was very meticulous, she was also a scrutinizer. Even back when she played the cello and hunted, her movements were poised and precised. She practiced daily to get everything in perfect perfection. That is how she got her first job and climbed the social ladder of being a publishing house. When she first arrived in New York, she had secured herself a small minimum and manual job as the night time custodian.

For the first two months all she did was clean and polish and in the day she would sleep, eat and read to pass the time and the loneliness. But one night one of the head executives editor had for gotten a manuscript on her desk. Thinking it could be interesting she picked it up and leaf through it. Looking at the time she figured she could read it and put it back before he could see it missing. And so she did. She took about two hours to finish reading the thousand plus paged manuscript and had made some mental notes about the plot, characters, writing styles and how intriguing was the book. Replacing the manuscript where it was, she quickly finished her cleaning.

She was an avid reader and could tell a good book from the first few chapter; even the ones which had a very slow start. She wasn't like some people, her band mate Johanna, who only read the first few chapters of a book and the last chapters and filled in the blanks of the novel. No, just like when she received a new piece to play she would sight read the partition then examine it. Same went for a novel; she would read it through once then proceed chapter by chapter to analyses it and make mental notes of what could be change or how she enjoyed that part of the book.

She went about her day just like she had always done and hoped that the editor did not miss anything. The following nights she continued her routine, dust down the desk and shelves, vacuum the carpets etc. But about a week later, as she was cleaning a different editor office, she saw another manuscript. Picking it up, she browsed through that one again while making mental notes. This one was different that the one she read previously but still interesting though she did not think it could be marketed.

And so the months went by and eventually instead of making mental notes she started pencil in her own thoughts on how the upcoming novel could be revised. Soon afterwards she started taking some of the writer's composition home to make better notes. She would be always careful as to where she would take and then replace it. And she never took from the same editor twice; she always made sure to rotate so no one would suspect a thing. She did not realize that after a couple months of doing that stint that it would catch up to her or that someone would catch her in the act and would possibly make her lose her job.

…

Seneca Crane was one of the eldest and oldest editors of Heavensbee and Crane. He came from a poor family background with a father who ran off when he got the chance leaving his mother with three children to raise and to feed and to educate. He came from a small town in the western part of a few months of struggle; his mother decided that the family would move to Las Vegas where his mother had gotten a more paying job as a waitress at night and maid by day. While she worked, he helped take care of his siblings making sure they were fed and clean and were on time for school. After school he would do some odd jobs around the neighborhood to earn some pocket change. That satisfied some of his needs. But the best time was Saturday mornings when his mom didn't have to work.

Those days he would escape the confines of his home and head to the library. O how he loved that place! Rows and rows of books lined the shelves! Pages filled with knowledge, history, divertissement, suspense, romance and so much more. He loved the smell of the library from the old dusty, musky parchment books to the new plasticized paper books. He not only loved to read, but he had a critical eye. His favorite thing was to read a book then criticize and rewrite the book in his own way. The librarian would always see him come in on and would watch him; He would sit at the same spot every time with a book on his left side and a pencil and notepad on his right. At one point she asked him what he was doing and he told her. Soon after she started talking to him about the books she loved or hated or thought could be rewritten.

By the end of the family's first year in Vegas, the librarian a Mrs. Maysilee Donner, had given him a job and unlimited access to the books in store. By the end of his high school career he had gotten a full scholarship to State to study in English and Literature with a minor in Linguistics. At the end of his college career he graduated summa cum laude and valedictorian of his graduating class. During his college years, he still kept up with his Saturday routine; book, notepad and pencil. After the commencement ceremony he had been approach by a Mr. Cornelius Snow. He had offered him a position as an editor assistant with a possible of upgrade after an allotted amount of time.

After a trial period of six months, Seneca had shown to be competent, efficient, hardworking, skilled and stubborn. He had a soft spot for romance novels something his boss despise. He on the other hand preferred straight forward stories, historical novels and memoirs. Snow had tried but in vain had not succeed to persuade him that novel romance were old stuff and what he should be focusing on was criminal law novels. Not wanting to be terminated from his position, Seneca bended to Snows will and started eliminating any romance manuscript from his desk and pretty soon he was becoming a less rigid version of Cornelius he never forgot nor forfeited his past, in secret he read and commented on those "misplaced manuscripts". So when one day when he saw a certain dark haired female with her signature braid reading those lost manuscripts he decided to investigate. He went thrift the list of editors, assistants. electromoces people and even interns but could not find anyone matching her description.

Few months into his investigation, some of the employers under Snow started disappearing some for no good reason. At that same time, Seneca and another fellow employee, Plutarch Heavensbee, decided to start they own publishing house. The people that were fired from there position at Snow's were rehired with more or less the same position they detained over there. These people included Katniss Everdeen, the custodian.

When Katniss heard about a new employment opportunity, she immediately seized it. The job offered a better pay, better hours and even a small amount of benefits. She along with some of the other remaining employees decided to be part of a group to dethrone Snow. They did a few uprisings doing their best to defile him. The custodian employees did their worst while cleaning his office, stole a few manuscripts and destroyed/hid a few of his personals belongings. Still he remained strong and confident that no one would be able to take over his position as head editor and founder of Snow Enterprises. So he impacted a new and stricter regiment. For a while it seemed to work, for people were in fear of losing their jobs. But a few weeks after the regime was implanted, Seneca and Plutarch upped and left Snow dry and in the dust.

With most of his most valuable and bests employees gone, Snow corporation slowly dwindled. He was no longer the number one publishing house in the state let alone in the city. His popularity went downhill pretty fast. But somehow he still maintains a pretty high influence around in the city. He still had the power to do whatever he wanted, after all money talks. Snow decided to keep his business but at a very low key. He also accepted to merge his house with another, one of a similar passion, depth and ruthlessness as him.

Alma Coin Publishing House Co. was just as much an editor as a tyrant who ran her company with an iron rod. Strict and ... to her employees. When she heard that Snow was in a pickled she immediately sought him out and bargained a deal with him. They would merge their companies and be as one but only from the outside and in paper. But they would work by themselves and manage their properties just like they usually did.

And just like that Katniss got a new job. She did her work diligently and efficiently. So by the end of the month she was comfortable with her new routine to go back to reading manuscripts during her breaks and writing down her point of view. She did not realize that fateful night that her employer Crane was watching her.

"What are you doing in here?" He growled.

She was so surprised that she dropped the stack of papers in her hand. The look on her face was a mixture of shock, surprise but most of all of being caught. She had the look of a deer in the headlights imprinted on her face.

"Uh, just cleaning out sir"

"Well it doesn't look like you were cleaning to me." he said with a smirk. "What were you really doing because from the look on your face and the pen marks I know what you've been up to."

"Uh" she did not what to say. She was never good at lying nor was she a skilled actress. At best one could define her as a wannabe. So instead she stuttered through a response.

"I, was um jus _t_ _,_ _checking_ to see, if um, I ... " she trailed off really in a pickle.

"Hmm he said" with that he grabbed the manuscript, leafed through it and walked out the door.

 **Thanks for reading. I'm currently looking for a beta if anyone's is interested please PM me and we will work out the details.**


	3. The Arragement

**Chapter Three**

 **The** **Arrangement**

 **All rights go to Suzanne Collins and Disney Media Productions.**

 _Eleven years later (Present day)_

Three years ago, a young man by the name of Peeta Mellark came through the doors of her office acquitting himself a job. He was just as she he had guessed, his resume told plenty about. A Yale graduate, he had majored in English and had a minor historical literature. In his spare time he liked to volunteer and the library reading to kids and helping out with homework at the local YMCA. He came from a small town in Alaska but was a full trained wrestler and almost went pro. But in his third year at Yale he somehow managed to tear his ACL. Then a few days later, he was driving back to his house when he was in an accident that resulted in him getting his leg amputated below the knee. He now had a prosthesis which left him with a slight limp. But that did not deter ire him from his dream nor did it render him crippled he still played basketball and occasionally ran. So here he was three years after working at his almost dream job: the one of an editor's assistant.

His morning routine included a quick run (if possible), an even quicker shower, and then a dash to the Starbucks near the office to procure his morning coffee. Today started like any other day, accepts that the power went off during the night and his alarm did not go off. The light had just starting streaming through the windows when he realized what time it was. Quickly he grabbed his watch changes his boxers and puts on a fresh undershirt. Running to his closet he grabs the first suit he sees, grabs his satchel, grabs a bagel, sprays himself with axe and rushes through the door while dressing himself. He barely makes it into the subway, hanging on to his shoes. He tries to put his shoes on, while clutching to his satchel and hanging on to the subway handles. Once at his stop, he rushes thru his favourite Starbucks.

"Seriously" he thought the line was long from the cash to Timbuktu. But in that same instant Madge yells out "Peeta, I've got your coffee." Grabbing the coffees he reached into his pocket for at least a tip.

"Don't worry" said Madge it's on the house. "

"Thanks you are a lifesaver. I owe you one" he gulped. With his coffees in hand. He ran out of the door and made it just in time at the Heavensbee and Crane Editing and Publishing House.

* * *

Her morning started out as usual, with not too much change happening. Katniss Everdeen woke up at precisely 6am. She then changes from her sleepwear into a pair of sports pants and shirt. Following her morning routine, she grabbed her latest manuscript to read, turn on her TV to forest scenery and hoped on her exercise bike. Katniss is a multitasker, so for the next 45 minutes she reads while doing her morning "run" and enjoys the scenery her city has to offer.

This training leaves her at the same time fit and up to date. She quickly hopes into the shower and changes into her work clothes. Today she is wearing a tight, black pencil skirt with a small black blazer. She applies little to no makeup; only mascara and some skin color lip gloss. After a quick and easy breakfast of a green smoothie and an egg white omelet, she proceeds out to the door, like clockwork, at precisely 8:12am. She starts a nice brisk walk to the office arriving there in thirteen minutes flat.

Since she has been promoted to an editor (with the possibility of partnership down the road), Katniss had changed. She had become more proficient and determine. She worked even harder but kept to herself most of the time. That attitude gave her an air of superiority and people tended to stay away from her. Of course she had heard the rumors circulating around the office, she was anything but that. And ever since her debut, she has all but ignored those comments and the looks given to her. Instead she uses that to get on top and run her section diligently.

The day at the office would have gone by like any other day, but for some reason her assistant was not on top today. Usually he toke great care of his appearance and his clothing but as she entered her office he was in the middle of tying his tie and sported a little stubble.

'O shit' Peeta thought. He quickly finished with his tie and grabbed her coffee.

"Morning, boss. You've got a conference call in thirty minutes."

"Yes I know. About the spring marketing for our books"

"Ok, staff meeting to follow after at 10."

"Perfect. Um did you get back to … ugh what's her name? The one with the really weird hands?

"Yes, Janet I did. I told her she needed to have her manuscript by the end of next week otherwise it won't get published. Also your immigration called, said its imperative that you call him back."

"Ok. Call my lawyer back tell him I can't talk to him right now and get started on a PR, Cameron is doing Oprah."

"Wow, amazing you actually got him!"

"If I want your praise, I will ask for it." She swiveled around in her chair to face the computer when something caught her eye; a little scribble besides the coffee order "Peeta?"

"Yes Katniss?

"Who's Madge and why does she want me to call her?"

"A girl at the coffee shop. Because this was originally my cup."

"And I'm drinking your coffee why? "

"Because yours spilled." He replied

"So you drink cinnamon spiced chai latter with honey and extra whipped cream? " She questioned.

"I do it's like Christmas in a cup. Katniss Everdeen office. Yes, we will be there in a minute." He hung up and turn towards Katniss with a questioning look "Why are we headed to Cray's office?"

Standing up she simply sipped her coffee and said "just follow my lead"

They quickly left her office and made their way to Cray's. That man was one of the top editors in the building, but he had a very big: he liked to sleep around with many of the interns and assistants. He had even approach Katniss when she was just an intern. But then she had dismissed him with no other thought. Right now he was not on her favourite person list. She thought he was incompetent, lazy and had a libido that was way too high. Therefore when she entered his office and saw the big mahogany desk she knew he shouldn't be there. Then in a blink of an eye she had cold-heartily fired him. With a turn of a heel she headed back to her bureau. She grabbed the latest manuscript she had gotten and started fleeting through it.

Peeta went back to his desk and stated on the press conference for Cameron, a few moments later he picked up his phone. After leaving Cray's office, Katniss had made him cancel his plans for the weekend which included his trip back home to his native state. He really wanted to go home. He had not seen his family since Christmas which was almost eight months ago. He really did not want to have this conversation with his mom. She expected him to be there, no excuses and no free pass. All his family was going to be there that also included his brothers and their wives. She probably would ask if he was seeing someone; a question she asked _every time_ she called. Sighing he picked up the phone and made the call.

"Hey mom"

"Hey son, are you on the plane yet?"

"Oh no. that's actually why I called. I won't be able to come up this weekend."

"Wait What. You have to come. It's your grandmother's 80th birthday. It's a special occasion everyone is going to be there."

"I know that mom but the wit- boss wants me to work this weekend."

"Your grandmother will be so disappointed. And so will your father. "

"Yeah, yeah I know. But want do you want be to do? I can't just say no, she'll have me fired in an instant."

"Just tell her…." At that same moment he saw Katniss come out of her office. It was one of her biggest pet peeve: when someone was using valuable work time making personal calls. In a flash he replied to his mother "thank you for calling. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

"Was that your family?"

"Yep."

"They tell you to quit?"

"Every single day. Ms. Everdeen's office. Yes. Okay. All right, she'll be right there. Heavensbee and Crane wants to see you. "

"Ok. Come and get me in ten minutes. You and I have lots to do."

"Will do boss."

Quickly and with a tiny bounce in her steps she walks up to the main editors offices. She wondered why she was summoned. Was it another raise or a promotion they want her to do? She had hoped that it was something positive and not that she was going to be deported.

"It has to do with your visa application. Remember when we told you that you should not go to the District seven book fair but you still went?

"Of course I remember. We were going to lose … to snow and coin and I was not about to let that happen. "

"Well replied Crane it seems that our government does not care who publishes who, as long as their country is safe. And with you not following orders I'm afraid …"

"We are afraid that we have no other choice but to hand over all your clients and work over to Cray."

At that same moment there was a knock on the door. Just like providence Peeta poked his head in.

"Sorry to bother you but Ross is on the phone to talk about Oprah, but I told her that you were otherwise engaged."

"Oh ok. Peeta come here. Uh men, we have something to tell you."

"We do? Exclaimed Peeta

"Yes we do. Gentlemen, we are getting married." She looked to Peeta hoping he would catch on, her eyes were silently pleading. Just as she hope he quickly catch on.

"Yes, we are. I proposed a couple days ago actually." He said while slowly bringing his arm around Katniss' waist. For a moment she flinched, then remembered that they were supposed to be a couple and tried to look relaxed in his arms.

"Okay! But Katniss your assistant?"

"Well…"

"Didn't you have something going on with your own assistant, Seneca? Bonnie wasn't it?" God, he was a good actor. They were eating it out by the palms of their hands.

The bosses looked quite relieved to hear the news. For them it was one less problem on their minds.

"Perfect, only make it official. We can't lose you know can we?"

"No, sirs. We're good. Okay let's go... honey." She internally winced as the word left her mouth.

"Right behind you Kitty Kat."

As they walked back to Peeta could not believe what had just transpired. And news certainly ran fast in the office. Everyone was starting at them; then he realised that he was still holding on to her waist. He quickly withdrew his hand and walked faster to her office. She had some serious explaining to do. She closed the door behind them and proceeded to go to her desk as of nothing had happened. But he needed answers.

"What the hell was that?"

"They were going to make Cray editor in chief."

"So somehow I had to marry you? How does any of this make any sense?"

"Well if one day you're an editor you will understand." With that said she turned back to her work leaving a puzzled Peeta behind.

A little after noon she grabbed him and her immigration folder and dragged him to the immigration office. While he was in his cubicle she had printed off a Form I-129F form and had filled in the appropriate lines. Once there he shifted back and forth on the balls of his feet. This was nerve wracking how she managed to look so calm. Set and determined she quickly marched to the front of the line and stated her demands. She needed to file for a fiancé visa and she needed it done by the end of today, even thought there was a huge line and people had been waiting for over two hours to get a chance to talk to the receptionists. Nevertheless someone did squeeze them in. Mainly because he could smell their fear.

Romulus Thread was a notorious agent. He was definitely known for having no sympathy towards anyone and was a tough nut to crack. He had the best track record in the state and came in very close to being the number one person to kick people out of the country, especially with fiancé visas. He had an eye and could easily detect the fakes from the reals. So when Katniss and Peeta walked into his office he could definitely tell that something was off. "Well, well, well what do we have here?"

Katniss seemed to have taken the bait because she swiftly jumped into action and handed him the application for a fiancé visa.

"Why are you doing this?" he suddenly asked. He wanted to see them squirm.

"Because we love each other."

"Have you guys told your family?"

"Well I sure can't." replied the brunette

Without missing a beat Peeta jumped in "Her parents and sister passed away a couple years ago. It's just her now."

"How 'bout yours Mr. Mellark? Are they no longer in the land of the living?"

This time Katniss, who for sure knew the answer interrupted him "No but Peeta _my fiancé's_ parents are very much alive. In fact we spoke to them just this morning."

"Is that so?"

Wondering if Katniss could keep up the lying scheme, Peeta decided to jump in for he knew that she was not the best actress. "Yes" Peeta chimed in. "We're going up this weekend to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday. "

"And where might that be?"

"Sitka. Alaska."

"Alaska." She shrieked. "Yeah, that's where my little Peetie is from."

"But why do the processing now? Why didn't you do it say four months ago?"

"Well" this time it was Peeta who spoke. His faced void of all emotions but love, puppy-dog love. "We didn't want to make it a big deal, especially at work with my big promotion coming up and you know how people can get jealous. While he was speaking, he had lovingly placed his arm around her and pulled her closer to him and placed tiny kiss to her forehead.

"Umm. Listen close and listen clear. Just so we're clear here, your story is similar to so much that I have heard in all my years working as an immigration officer. This is how the procedure will go. I will interrogate each of you, then your family and your coworkers and finally I will look into your phone and computer history. If and when I find any loophole, you Ms Everdeen will find your way back to Canada and you Mr. Mellark will find you way into the next prison for the next five years and will be fined 250,000$. Do I make myself clear?"

Peeta gulped. He like Katniss but didn't know if he was ready to throw his life away just so she could stay in the country.

"Yes sir. We heard you loud and clear." He said.

"Perfect, I will see you both back here Monday afternoon at 1400hrs sharp."

And with that they walked out of the office.


	4. The proposal

**The proposal**

 **All rights go to Suzanne Collins and Disney Media Productions. I do not own the characters of the Hunger Games Trilogy nor do I own the characters of the Proposal. Also thank you to everyone who has favorited followed and reviewed. Here's the next chapter.**

Peeta and Katniss walked out of the office, her on her phone and he holding the booklet of frequently asked questions with the sticky note that told them what time their appointment would be. He could not believe he was here much more he still was in the middle of prossesing the words that came out of the officer's mouth. They had to pull this off, otherwise he would be spending the five years in prison. **_Prison_**. He could not imagine living there. Anything would be better than that. He would even prefer living back with his parents and his controlling mother. _That_ sounded better than this.

"Katniss!"

"Yes, Peeta. "

"Were you in that room?"

"Yeah, we just got to go up to your parents, tell them we're in love and tell them to lie to the inspector and we are in the clear."

"Katniss that would be impossible to do. Katniss I've known you for three years and have worked under you for two-and-a half years, I know how good of an actress you are."

"So what's your point? All we have to do it's pretend we are in love, get married then a quickie divorce. Boom easy as 1, 2, 3."

"And if that doesn't work, you get deported and I get sent to prison with a two hundred and fifty thousand dollar fine!"

"So what, that's the worst thing that can happen. Why are you so jumpy? You're usually really preppy guy. Chill. "

"You want me to chill?" He was getting mad "Please, but who says I'm agreeing with this. You haven't even propose to me."

"Pfft, me propose? You're the guy aren't you supposed to do that? "She said incredulously.

"It's the 21st century my dear. Equal rights, right?" There was a slight hint of gleefulness. He liked to see her squirm this was really out of her comfort zone. If this didn't work at least he would have gotten a little fun out of it and it would temporary stop his mom of asking if he had found someone yet. Just for the fun of it he decided to push her buttons a bit "And you could really go back to Canada for all I care."

She snorted "Please, you wouldn't do that."

"And why not? Right now the only thing standing between your visa application AND your job is me. So I would only accepts if you ask me."

Scowling she looked at him "You're serious?"

"Yep." Making sure the 'p' popped.

"Here?" She did a quick survey of her surroundings. There were on the sidewalk on one of the busiest street of New York and the sidewalk did not look like the best place. She had seen worse but that was a long time ago and she didn't have to deal with that anymore.

"Well it's not at my favourite restaurant, nor is it on our anniversary, nor is it by candle light, nor are we in the state of dress…"

"Okay I get it. You don't need to continue." Taking a deep breath she put her phone away and tried to act all flirty. "Peeta, will you marry me?"

"No."

"No" she sputtered "Why no? You have to marry me. We just If not who knows what could happen to me!"

"Not my problem. And again not everything is about you Katniss. And I would like to at least go on a date with someone before they ask me to marry them. Call me old fashioned, but that was how I was raised. "

"Ugh. "She was getting frustrated she wanted to get this over with but Peeta seemed to have all the time in the wool. So in order to speed things up she grudgingly asked "Peeta, my dear Peeta would you go on a date with me?"

"I sure would love to Katniss. Pick me up at seven. "He said while tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. For some reason whatsoever when he touched her she shivered as if someone had just walked upon her grave. A strange tingly feeling. She disimmied it as being nervous and afraid of being caught. (She was positive it would not happened.)

 _A few hours later…_

"You look good."

She rolled her eyes and said "Thanks, I wanted to get dolled up for my lovely prince charming."

"By the way, you are wearing my favourite colour." She was wearing an orange dress that stopped just above the knee, with long sleeve that seemed to change hue when she walked. Ever so modest the dress had a simple sweetheart neckline. She honestly seemed to be glowing and for a moment Peeta's heart stopped. She had gotten the dress from one of Sae's friend's granddaughter. Octavia was a makeup artist and model whose big dream was to be costume designer

"You can turn down the sarcasm. I was paying you a complement which I'm sure you don't know what it means."

"Sure."

Getting into the cab he asked her where they were headed.

"Were are going to a restaurant that I used to go to whenever I got home sick. It's called D13."

"Can't say I've ever heard of it. "

"Probably not it's kind of a hole in the wall type of place. But the food is really great."

"Really!" he exclaimed. "So you come here often?"

"That's your go to line? How many girls actually eat that up?" she grinned

He smiled. Sometimes he even wondered if she was human with all the negativity perfection and sarcasm she reeked. "Everyone but you."

Once they arrived at the restaurant they were quickly seated. The 'couple' choose a booth near the back of the restaurant. The restaurant had the rustic look that looked like a diner from the sixties, but had a charm and feel of the 2000's. The back was dimly lit in some corners to allow a more romantic setting while the front had a more jovial expression. Once they were seated a hostess came with their menus and ice water.

Their waitress was a girl named Clove who seemed bored with her job but perked up when she saw Peeta. The 'fiancé' of the evening picked up his menu and looked at what they were offering. He was so engrossed in the menu (everything sounded appetizing) that he didn't feel nor did he see the waitress laying her hand on his biceps a moment too long. Katniss did and for a fleeting second looked and glared at her. Clove glared back but left to get their drinks, a Shirley temple for Katniss and a club soda with lime for Peeta.

"What do you think you'll get?" asked Katniss "I think I'll get the lamb."

"Um … I don't know. Everything looks so good. What would you recommend?"

"The orange chicken is pretty good. So is the rabbit."

"The what?" Peeta's face suddenly went pale.

"Oh yeah" she replied just as if it was the most obvious thing in the world" the roasted wild game is rabbit, they sometimes add some squirrel to it. Trust me it's good."

"Well since you said it is I think order both. "

"Trust me you won't be disappointed."

"Don't worry if there's one thing I know for sure is that I trust you judgement. You always seem to know what to do in almost any situation." And for the first time in a while she smiled at the complement.

When their meal arrived they ate in silence for a while, each savouring/ testing their meal. Peeta had to admit, Katniss was right the roasted wild game was phenomenal. The meat was well season and he could taste the different spices used; sage, rosemary and something else. Whatever it was his taste buds were in for a hoedown.

"Soo?"

"Amazing. You were right. I've never had squirrel before tonight. It surprisingly delicious.

"Told ya. The secret to having the best ones is to be just before winter and late spring. That's when they're the juiciest and when you can catch young, fresh meat. "

"Wow. How do you know all this?" He was indeed shock because she looked at acted like a city girl through and through.

"Um, I used to go hunting with my father. He was Cree so we got all year hunting privileges up in Canada." She explained, she didn't want to go into too much details of her family. Even if they had passed away eleven years ago, the pain was still fresh. Sensing her sudden change in demeanor, Peeta decide to change the subject.

"You know at some point we need to talk about the elephant in the room. We need to come up with some sort of story."

"What's wrong with the one we have now. We meet at work, we like each and decided to get married. Easy and simple."

"That's the thing, its way to cliché. You tell that to someone on the streets and they won't believe you. We need to convince them. Ugh, the person we need to convince the most is my mother."

"Why, are you a mama's boy?"

"Nope, she just has high standards on who we should be dating and since I call almost everyday complaining about you. Let's just say you're not on her favoirute propsects list.

"Okay so what should we do?"

Sighngn he leadned back in his chair, folded his arms as a small smile formed form upon his face. " For starts you can start by proposing to me. You should get on your knees." He smirked

"What you've got to be joking."

"It's not a real proposal, unless the one proposing is on their knees."

"Can we not do this here?" she whined.

"Why? Do you want to be somewhere else?" he leaned towards her, his voice suddenly husky. "

"Wha-at-tt?" her face had turned at least ten shades redder and looked at everything except Peeta's gaze. She knew what he was implying but it still made her kind of queasy.

"Fine he sighed. If you can give me a decent proposal I will accepts plus you will also read and publish one of my manuscripts.

"You write?"

"Yes, I also do some sketching too."

"Ahh." Katniss slowly stood up, then proceeded to hold on to the edge of the table and bent her knees.

"My dear Peeta, for the past three years I've had the privileged of having you work for me But now I think it is time for a change. Would you do me the honor of marrying me?" When she finished she looked up at him. He was holding back tears but they weren't tears of sadness but of laughter. He then exploded into a fit of laughter. "What was that a marriage proposal or a business deal?" He was laughing so hard she barely understood him. The amount of energy she had put in was phenomenal she was never good at expressing her self and with Peeta laughing it just seemed to make it worse. For the first time tonight her scowl reappeared. She suddenly stood up, grabbed her purse and left the restaurant. She walked out in the cool night air and stared the trek back to her apartment. She had barely made it three blocks from the restaurant when she unexpectedly heard someone scream her name.

"Katniss. Wait" she didn't want to turn around but she finally relented and saw Peeta running after her. She turned back and kept on walking but once he caught up he grabbed her arm so she could face him.

"Look, he said "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed at you back there."

"You're right. You shouldn't. You of all people should n=know how hard it is for me to express myself."

"Yeah I know. I was a jerk. Could you forgive me?" she thought about for a minute. She should forgive him, otherwise she would be kissing her career goodbye and she would be back in Canada; a place that held both good and bad memories.

"Okay fine I forgive you. Let's just agree to disagree that you are a jerk but **my** jerk. We will go up to Alaska and convince the investigator." The emphasis on the 'my jerk' went didn't go unnoticed by Peeta, instead he just gave the perfect reply. "Perfect. I'll see you at the airport tomorrow?"

"Where else who'd you expect me to be?"

"Oh, before you go I stopped at Tiffany's to pick this up." He slowly reached inside his coat pocket and produce a black square box. She looked at him in shock. Inside the box was a small necklace with a thin silver chain at the end of it was a shiny pearl reflecting the moonlight.

"Peeta, it's beautiful. How much did it cost you?"

"Surprisingly not much, it was my grandmother's so I thought it would be appropriate for you to wear it since were going to her party anyways."

"Thank you it's really beautiful. Help me put it on?" She turned around and brushed her hair to the side in order for him to access her neck. He unhooked the clasp and clasped around her neck. When he was done she turned around. The necklace hung just above her cleavage and fit like it was made just for her.

"Thanks again. See you tomorrow."

"You bet."

"Good night, then. "


	5. The Trip

**Alaska 4**

 **The Trip**

 **All characters belong to Suzanne Collins and Disney Media Productions**

Ugh. She hated planes. Whenever possible she would avoid them and use the train. The last time that she took her plane was over a decade ago when she left her native country. But now she was about to take off in the middle of nowhere in Alaska. Peeta looked so relaxed leafing through the book of questions Thread had given them. She scowled, this was going to be a very long ride.

"You know this will be very easy for me."

"Uh huh. And why is that?"

"Because I know almost everything of you. On the other hand you need all week to learn everything about me. "

"Everything? Really?" she teased. She randomly looked at the booklet and pointed to the first question that jumped at her. "Let's see do I have any scars and are they visible?"

"I think you have a small scar on the inside of you wrist and I'm pretty sure you have a tattoo. "

How did he know? She had gotten the scar when she was seven. Her dad was teaching her how to hunt. Her young self had pulled the arrow too tightly and the arrow flew out of her hand with so much speed it scraped the inside of her hand. That day she had accidently made her first kill. Absentmindedly she traced the inside of her wrist; she could barely feel it. How the hell did he feel it?

"Also three years ago, you made an appointment for a Q-switch laser. Since I didn't know what that was I google it. I found out that is does remove tattoos, almost pain free mind you. But a week before the appointment you told me to cancel it. And judging by the look on your face I know I'm right." he replied. Peeta had a crooked grin on his face effectively telling him that he was right. And for sure he was. She scowled even more putting her face in the gravest expression possible.

"By the way you're cute when you scowl. So what is it? Japanese calligraphy? Your lovers name? "Katniss snorted, no, she definitely did not have a lover's name.

"But I think the question to ask is _where_ it is? Arm? Leg? Right butt cheek?"

"No, nope and definitely not _there_." She punctuated the last word with a grimace, who would ask to put there tattoo there. It was simply unimaginable.

"Soooo… is it anywhere down south?"

"We're done wth that question. Let's do another one. Which place do we stay at? Easy mine."

"And why not mine?" Peeta asked in all innocence.

"Because, mine overlooks Central park and yours in probably a small shoebox with a stack of Penguins Classics overlooking your neighbor balcony."

"Fine, you win. But don't think this is over, I've got plenty of dirt on you." He said with a cat shire grin.

"I'm sure you do."

They continued the banter through the plane ride. At one point the air hostess asked them if they wanted anything to drink. Katniss quickly replied and asked if they had any hot chocolate on board, Peeta, on the other hand, asked for a cup of tea with no sugar. Turning towards him she lifted her eyes in question.

"You don't take sugar in you tea?"

"No, I don't. And before you ask why I think it's because it masked the real taste of the drink. And I really never cared for sugary things." Not to mention his parents owned a bakery and that he was quite on the chubby side growing up.

"Oh". She was the opposite of him in a way she loved sweets since she rarely got them as a child. Now that she's older and can indulge she did. She always kept a box of chocolates in her desk and sugar, a luxury, was put a lot in her tea. She quickly dismissed that thought and went back to reading the manuscript she brought along. It was a story about a young girl forced into an arena to fight to death.

A few hours into the flight she took a break of her manuscript and grabbed the immigration question and answer. As shewas leafing through the book a question caught her eye 'How many brothers and sisters does your significant other has?' How had he known that her family was dead?

"Peeta?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you know my family had passed away?"

He turned to her with a serious face "I've never heard you talk about them, so I assumed that you had a bad relationship with them. But one night I heard you mention someone named Prim so I guessed you have or had a sister. "

She looked at him searching his face for any hints of sarcasm or deceit, but all she could see was a serious somber face that lead to the harsh reality that he was not lying.

"Also around the third week in May you get really moody and antsy for some reason. At first I thought it was stress or even PMS, which by the way your favourite brand of tampons is Tampix sport nature woods. Then I realized it might be…

"…my sisters birthday. I guess you guess right."

"See, I told you I knew everything about you. Can you guess how many I have?"

"Of what?" she said distractedly, all of a sudden she didn't feel like sharing details about her past, enough information was already out in the open.

"Siblings" sighed Peeta "That's was what we were talking about eh?

"Umm, one?" she whispered absentmindedly.

"Nope. Two. " He said under his breath and left the conversation hanging. He didn't want to press the matter further. That kind of felt like a touchy subject to discuss.

And neither did her. Katniss had been working so hard this past few months and didn't even spare a thought. Abruptly stood up, mumbled an apology and went into the ladies washroom. She quickly looked the door and pull the toilet sit down and sat down. At the thought of her sister she burst into tears. 'Get a grip she thought' she had not cried not once since her family's funeral, and even then she never really did end up with the full water works her eyes mostly watered. But in that moment it did not matter. So she cried for the better part of the hour. Realizing that she'd been in the washroom for almost an hour and that they were scheduled to land in a few minute she quickly dried her treas. Once she sobered up, she wiped her eyes then splashed cold water on her face. A quick look in the mirror could tell that she'd been crying. Pinching her cheeks to gain more color she breathed in then left that enclosed spaced.

Once back into her seat and buckled up and pretended that the major part of the hour didn't happen. They continued their flight in relative silence and for once she was happy that Peeta didn't press the matter further. Once landed and disembarking the plane, she thought they had arrived. But boy was she wrong.

…

The first plane that they took was big and spacious which made the flight better. But know there were in a tiny plane, she could feel her lungs collapsing. She was slightly claustrophobic and small places with a large crowd made her uncomfortable and slightly light-headed. For that reason she grabbed Peeta's arm and clung it the whole flight. And to make matters worse, they went thought a turbulent area which meant for a full five minutes the plane shook. She looked toward Peeta who didn't seem to be fazed, in fact he seemed to be enjoying. He was that chill.

"Hey, could you relax your grip on my arm? I might need that in the future don't another amputated limb."

"Ohh" she blushed. She then loosen her grip on him but still held on to him.

"Thank you. Look I know you kind of threw me into a pit of fire but considering the situation would you think we could have a shot at being friends?"

Friends! They were everything but friends. Nevertheless it would be easier, in the scheme of thing to be friends.

"I'll allow it." He slowly detangle her hand then he entertained their fingers. When he did that, Katniss felt a shiver go through her body. She looked up and was meet with Peeta's baby blues eyes staring down at her. A small smile was on his face.

"Now that we've cleared the air. We get to tell each other the deep stuff that friends do."

"The deep stuff?"

"Yes, the deep stuff like what's your favourite colour?"

"What!" she exclaimed "Of all the questions you could have asked you want to know what my favorite colour is? That's ridiculous."

"No, it's not."

"It's green."

"Mine's orange."

"Like an orange cone?" wrinklying her nose.

"No, more like this shade." He pointed out the window. Even thought they had left early in the morning, the Alaskan air seemed to be on a different time than New York. For outside you could see the sun bathing in a pool of colours. Oranges, reds and goldens all mixed in and just at the edge was a soft, muted orange colour.

"Beautiful."

"Yeah, just like you." His voice barely above a whisper. They stayed together like that for the remainder of the flight admiring the view.

… … …

She followed Peeta through the tiny airport to the outside where his parents would be waiting. If she didn't know it before she would have easily spotted his family. There were four people waiting for them and all of them had various shades of blond hair and blue eyes. The oldest one, who she assumed was Gamy, was a little woman with a bright pink wig. The lady did not look a year over sixty. His mother, she thought, looked quite young too. Then she saw what she thought was his brothers, they were the spitting image of Peeta. The only difference being that the looked taller and they hair was of a more dirty blond color.

As they approached his family, he grabbed her by the shoulders and whispered in her ear "Remember, we're madly in love so it's okay to kiss me whenever you feel like it."

Pulling back she struggled to keep her composure; this was the most preposterous thing she had ever heard. Yes, they were going to get married but there relationship was totally platonic and after a quickie divorce everything would go back to normal. Nothing could or would come ever out of it; it was all very professional.

She for sure that they were his brothers because when they were within arm's reach, both boys pounced on Peeta. She jumped back in shock and let out a little yelp.

"Don't worry about them. That's how they've been saying hello to each other since they were in high school."

"Well that's a relief." She sight and inwardly prayed that Peeta would not get hurt.

"Hi, I'm Melissa. You must be Katniss and this is my mother-in-law Effie."

"I'm Gamy dear. Tell me should we call you Katniss or Malificient?"

"Just Katniss and it's very nice to meet you both." She replied while sticking her hand out for a handshake but instead the boys decided to give her a welcome of her own and gave her a giant bear hug. Katniss was never one for personal display of affection and kept that to a minimum. The only people she ever hugged was her family and her friend Gale.

"It's finally good to meet the woman little Dill has been raving about these past three years."

"Dill?"

"Guys" Both Katniss and Peeta exclaimed in unison.

"Oh Peeta didn't tell you? I'm Bannock by the way" The taller of the siblings and had straight wheat colored hair.

"And I'm Rylan. Aka Rye. Aka the handsome one." He looked the most like Peeta, with broad shoulders and curly blond hair. But his face was a bit longer and his chin was pointier. Peeta seemed to still have some of his baby fat no matter how chiseled his jaw was. She giggled, he was so full of himself. "I beg to differ but Peeta is definitely the handsomest."

"Look who just got burnt."

"Hmm. You're just biased. I am everyone favorite"

"But mine"

"Boys that enough. Come on, you're scaring the poor girl away." She grabbed Katniss by the hand and started talking to her about her hair and how good her skin looked. "Oh and Peeta be a dear and grab Katniss' things."

She followed his grandmother blindly, not noticing the not so subtle glances his mother was giving her. She suddenly felt like a cow being inspected before going to the slaughter house. She turned her head, craning her neck to see Peeta but he was still being tackled by his brothers. The brothers still teasing each other as if there were still ten. Once the party arrived at their respective cars they separated into two groups. Katniss, Gamy Effie and Melissa went in one vehicle and the boys in the other. But Katniss quickly grabbed her Peeta by the hand, insisting he come with them.

His grandmother who caught the exchange gasped and smirked. "Possessive little thing isn't she huh, Peeta?"

Rubbing his arm he replied "You have no idea." He opened the door and embarked in the car. The drive was short and all the way his mom tried to talk to Katniss by asking questions of various degrees. But once the fiancée said that all her family was killed in a car crash a decade ago and she was the sole survivor, she shut up right away. So in order to ignore the questions she stared out at the window at the small town and their business which included Mellark's Bakery, Mellark's Photographers, and Painting with the Mellark's, The Mellark Sport Club and the list went on and on. Shifting her eyes, she took a quick look at Peeta. But the clothes he was wearing didn't nor did his shoes or watch match what she was seeing.

"Peeta, Peeta!" Not getting his attention she punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" he responded "What's with you today? You're so punchy!"

"Nothing. Just wanted to get your attention."

"So to do that you had to punch me?"

"Yes Honey." Rolling his eyes Peeta went back to playing on his phone while rubbing his arm. If she kept this up. He might be needed a new limb after this weekend he thought. After a while he put his phone away sensing they were approaching the dock leading to his parents place.

When they arrived at the dock, Katniss was shocked to see a large amount of water. The last time she was near there was when her father had taken her swimming in the lake behind their forest. The closer they got to the more her stomach churned. She had a weird feeling about this. She didn't trust her nautical skills after being shelved for so long. And so the first she did was to grab hold of Peeta's hand. Oddly, his presence seemed to bring a small amount of comfort to her.

En route, his mother stated talking non-stop, she bragged about her grandchildren, but more specifically Bannock's wife who was pregnant and expecting a little girl in just over four months.

"Were just having a small dinner tonight with your brothers and their wives and kids. My son tells me you don't really like big crowds."

"Euh, yes he's right." One more thing that she needs to add to the list of things she owes Peeta for.

'No, "big crowds"'. That was weird' thought Peeta, considering his mother lived for entertainment. Growing up with quite the resources, his mother had made quite sure that they knew that they were different from the others. She would easily flaunt how much more there family had more than the average family livening on the state. She even went as far as having a ten bedroom, nine bath house built on an island called Victors Village. The only other neighbors were the Cartwrights, the Diamonds; and the Abernathy's the richest families in of Sitka. Shaking his head he jumped on the boat and went for his favorite spot on the starboard side.

"Peeta!"

"Yes, Gamy?"

"What kind of gentleman are you?" Effie shrieked. She rarely raised her voice. She was too much into etiquette. "A gentleman **always** helps her lady, especially going in and out things!" And he had just broke on off the rules in etiquette. She might give him a lesson in cotillion once back on land.

"I'm sorry, Gamy. It's just that Katniss is a very independent woman and likes to do things for herself. But I promise, I'll do better next time." He said sweetly. And at the same stood up and brought Katniss to sit beside him.

"Thank you. So much better."

The rest of the trip was spent with the boys teasing each other and the woman trying to make conversation with Katniss. After a while, the conversation lulled while the party was on their way to the island. Everyone seemed deep in thought, but Peeta and Katniss were deeper in it. The most was Katniss who hoped that the weekend would be fast, easy and with no challenges whatsoever.


	6. The Dinner Party

**Chapter Five**

 **The Dinner Party**

 **I do not own the Hunger Games trilogy nor the proposal. All rights go to Suzanne Collins and Disney Media Productions.**

They were met at the dock by another handful of people including a blond middle age man who looked like the spitting image of Peeta. Except for the graying hair, and the pudgier stomach they could definitely pass as twins. They were also two ladies (one was evidently pregnant) and a couple of kids chasing each other. They were evidently from the same family for they all had blond hair. As they got closer she could see the family differences were very small, she suddenly felt out of place with her olive tone skin and her dark tresses. But no one seemed to pay no mind to that fact.

Once out of the boat, Mellissa was quick to introduce everyone to Katniss. There was the brothers other wives; Glimmer, a model looking girl and Finch, another small looking woman with sharp features. Her hair looked a bit more red than blond. In Katniss head she kind of looked a bit with like a fox. After all the presentations were done, the group went up the pathway leading to the house. The older man was Peeta's father by the name of Brandon. Or since they were going to be family now, call him Bran.

"Mom, where's Gramps?"

"Oh who knows?" Answered Gamy. "I just hope he remembered we have company."

The youngest kids were took the lead chasing each other towards the Mellark home, with his parents in the middle whilst Peeta and Katniss were bringing up the rear.

/…/

The closer they got to the house the grandeur it seemed. She wondered how it looked inside. Needless to say she was just a little shock to see the inside of the house. She had been in the houses of many celebrities but this one though a bit smaller than the usual gave the impression of a majestic and pompous. The moment the group entered the mansion, the smell hot them. It was of a strong odour of dill and ginger and some other spice filled the air.

"Mmhh, something smell good." She said

"My dad must have been cooking."

"Oh ,no" replied his mom. "Your dad's arthritis has stated getting bad so we had to hire some help."

"Peeta! Looks who's back in town." With that t a little red head popped out and engulfed Peeta in a huge bear hug. When he recoiled, Katniss got a good look at him. Bronze hair, tan skin and a dashing smile showing off his pearly (overly) white teeth.

"And who did we have here?"

"Finnick, I would like to introduce to you my fiancée Katniss Everdeen."

"My, my, my. Peeta told me you were pretty but he never told me how dashing you look."

He approached and proceed to plant a huge kiss on her lips. Katniss jumped back and her defences kicked in; so did her foot which swiftly went into Finnick's crotch. He crouched down while grabbing his family jewels all while laughing. "I guess your woman is not made out of sugar cubes?" The whole family burst out laughing at his remark. At that Katniss cheek's turned bright red. Her face was flushed with embarrassment. She desperately wanted to flee the scene and to go hide in a corner or somewhere where she wouldn't be ridiculed. But she felt Peeta tighten his grip on her arm silently pleading for her to stay.

"O don't mind him. He is just a charmer." Said gamy, pinching his cheeks. "After all what would Annie say?" winking as she walked past him. The others just laughed and followed Gamy.

/…../

They dropped their bags in the main entrance and his mother decided to show them a bit around the house. They passed through the informal l living room and the formal visiting room the small dining area followed by the formal (and quite large in Katniss' opinion) dining room where they settled down to have dinner. The kids were given a meal once they got home and were now playing outside. The table was one of those massive table who could hold at least three families. The original seating at the dinner table, had Katniss seating across from Peeta by Gamy's insistence because in all good etiquette, the brothers besides their wives with Mellissa and Brandon each seating at the end of the table, Gamy was diagonally. But at both Peeta and Katniss insistence, they were permitted to sit beside each other.

They had just sat down for dinner when an old man with grey hair, that looked like it haven't been washed in a few days, made an appearance. He slumped down in the first chair. After a second he seems to figure where he is, he stands up and gives Gamy a big kiss on her mouth.

"Haymitch!" she squeaked clearly upset about his lack of manners. "I thought I told you to take bath. We have company! "

He raised an eyebrow in surprised, burped and looked around the table and his eyes landed on Katniss who was wearing the biggest scowl possible.

"Who peed in your cornflakes, sweetheart?"

"Don't call me that." She hissed.

"You could have at least change your clothes." Continued Gamy. "You've been wearing the same shirt for over fourteen hours."

"But it's a white shirt."

"Exactly. A white shirt should only be worn for a certain amount of time…" While Gamy continued her rant, Mellissa had the main courses brought in. It seemed as she went all out, for the meal seemed to be made for a king's palace. The entrée consisted of a mixed salad with baby greens, clementine and tomatoes, served with fresh baguette bread right from the over. Chicken in a creamy orange sauce, with pearled rice. A vegetable bowl with odd looking vegetable that tasted just like carrots, green peas and onions. With Fresh rolls of various shapes and sizes. But the best ones was the mini baguettes with the melted cheese inside.

The meal was going very well, if you could even say it that way. The conversation was light and no heavy topics were approached. But Katniss kept on getting death glares from the blond air-hood all throughout the meal. During dinner, Haymitch pulled out his pocket knife and was going to use it to cut his meat. But his knife accidentally slipped from his hand and landed blade down into the table.

"That is mahogany!" screached Gamy.

Once the dessert arrive, baked Alaska, all hell broke loose for Peeta and Katniss for the dreaded question was asked.

"So Katniss, how did you ever get Peeta here to not only stay with you but to get him to propose?" said Glitter or Shimmer elongating the s and dragging out her name.

The couple shared a look. What story? She defiantly could not think of one; she was too shocked plus it wasn't a question in the book Thread had given them.

"Hum…" she started "Well, Peeta…" Not knowing what to do, she started playing with the pearl necklace, her cheeks growing redder by the minute.

"Was it that good sweetheart?" Slurred Haymitch. She blushed even harder at what he was implying.

"Peeta, can you tell them the story?"

"I would love to tell the story, but I know most people want to hear it from the women's point of view. Am I right?" he leaned back in his chair winking at her.

"No, I think people like hearing it from male perspective. After all they have to all the dirty work." She retorted.

"That's true but usually women are all gushing and what to tell everyone about the proposal." whispered Finch.

"Yes and I would love to know how my son proposed"

"Yes tell us. Said Haymitch and Brandon "after all that we ever heard about was how horrible boss you are."

"And now" said Bannock "you're engaged and no one knew about it until now."

"Wow" said Katniss. She looked over to Peeta who was ginning like a fool. "Where to begin... this epic story." She thought for a second. How was she to proceed? Well as long as she tells a story and follows through nothing major can happen, right? So she carries on with her tale.

"So...Peeta and I...Peeta and I were about to celebrate our first anniversary together. I remembered he had tried to get me to take the day off, you know, and even though our coworkers didn't know about our relationship he still tried to make feel good at work."

She paused and took a sip of her drink. "But I had no idea that he wanted to ask me to marry him. I mean we had just moved in together a couple weeks before."

"She definitely didn't see it coming."

"Obviously not. I wouldn't be this surprised."

"It was also a very stressful week at work, so naturally I had to find a way to distract her, make her forget about work."

"That night he gave me a box. And when he left, I opened that beautiful, artistic box expecting to find something big and shiny but instead I found…"

"Nothing. The box was completely empty save for a there was a little handwritten note,

"And by the way Peeta has a beautiful penmanship" she looked over to Peeta and saw that the rest of the family were eating this up.

"...with the address to central park, the date and time to make our anniversary perfect."

"Anyways, I was a bit disappointed. I thought I was getting s real present. But I dressed my self accordingly and followed his instructions towards the park. And I found him waiting for me with a basket and blanket. I followed him to a more secluded area of the park where he revealed the contents of the picnic basket." She picked up one of the mozzarella twirl it and bite into it. Everyone in the room seemed to be hanging on her words.

"The night was going well. We ate, he had made all my favourites, talked a bit and then in the middle of the conversation I bit into my favourite pastry. But instead of finding my favourite cheese filling, I bit into something hard. I pull it out to find a simple…

"…intricate…"

"…silver…"

"…plated…

"…pearl ring. I looked up I found your son on bended knee."

"And I said 'Katniss will you marry me?' and obviously she said yes. So who wants more pie?"

The group erupted into laughter. But seemed quite pleased to hear the story. Katniss let out an internal sigh, since they had arrived at fooling his family it could be easy then to fool the immigration officer. The atmosphere changed back to the original feel and conversation was flowing back to normal. She looked over to Peeta and his features were of pure relief, she grabbed his hand, intertwine their fingers and gave him a good squeeze. Things seemed to go according to plan.

"Oh you two are just so cute. I can't wait until Peeta gives me great grandchildren. Let's see a kiss from you two." Squealed Gamy.

Abruptly the air changed and Katniss could feel Peeta tense up. A kiss, seriously? Did they seriously want a make out session in front of them?

Peeta cleared his throat "Sorry to disappoint you Gamy but Katniss here is not a big fan of personal display of affection."

Damn right she wasn't. She even hated when people were holding hands and leaning against each other in the streets. Why do people see the need to be so touchy feely? Just thinking about made her skin crawl.

"You know you're gonna have to do it in front of everyone at the wedding, might as well practice now in front of us. There's nothing none of us here hasn't done that set's you apart." Continued Haymitch. Everyone soon joined in, all saying the same thing. They need to see them kiss. She still does not feel comfortable, if anything she is even more uncomfortable. However they have to convince them so she nods her head an indication that he has the go ahead to kiss her.

He leans down to press his lips to the corner of Katniss' mouth, just under her nose so it seems as if he is really kissing her. Then as quickly as it happens his lips are off.

"You call that a kiss?" shrieked Glimmer. "Rye let's show them how it's done." She leaned over, grabbed his face and smashed her lips to his. Rye then thrust his tongue into Glimmers mouth and soon the tongues were dueling. After a couple minutes, they pulled back panting. Both Rye and Glimmer cheeks were red.

"See lil' bro, that's how it's done." He said cheekily.

So they tried one more. With more force Katniss places her hand to the back of his neck and quickly guides his mouth to hers. This time their lips are mold together, few seconds pass before he parts his lips followed by her; their lips moving as one unit. Her arms tighten against him as he lifts his hands to cradle her jaw, and the tips of his fingers slide through her hair, messing up her braid.

She was practically in a trance: the heat from his body, the firmness of his jaw and his smell, the smell of flour and axe surrounded him. Her heart was pounding and blood was rushing through her ears. He eyes opened as they both separated from each other. She glanced up at Peeta and was surprised at his looked: dilated pupils, flushed cheeks and swollen lips. God, she bet she looked exactly like him.

When they both looked over at the table, everyone seemed to have enjoyed the show. Especially Peeta's brother who jumped on him and congratulating him for finally kissing a girl properly. As for Katniss she just accepted the praise from the women although Glimmer's comment about it not being a genuine kiss rubbed her the wrong way. Afterwards she just kept her head down and only spoke when spoken to, not trusting her words nor he actions to give away how embarrassed she was.

/…/

 **Thanks for reading! All comments, reviews are appreciated. Have a Happy New Year! We will see you in 2016! :) Hopefully all goes well. I am a slow writer plus real life can be a pain but i will try by best to update at least once a month if not more. -Jakobamy**


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